On February 11, 1942, a Lockheed A-29A attack bomber (41-23340) with six men aboard was flying at 28,000 feet when the aircraft suffered a catastrophic malfunction. According to one press report, numerous people on the ground had seen the plane’s right wing fall off while it was still falling from the sky.

One witness was Gordon Hayes, an aircraft spotter on duty in the Suffield Observation Post. He described how the aircraft went into a “corkscrew spin” as it came down.

Another was Paul Hass of West Suffield, who said that at one point the plane appeared to straighten out before going into another spin, and from his vantage point one wing appeared to be missing.

Mrs. Elmer Mortensen of Bloomfield related how she saw one crewman jump from the plane. “Soon, a speck came out of the heavens”, she recalled, “Then as the speck grew, I saw a stream of smoke with it. I heard the motor skipping, and then the plane came down fast, straight down it seemed. While it was smoking a man bailed out with a parachute.”

An unidentified operator of a garage in East Granby also reported seeing the plane fall with a wing and a portion of the tail missing.

The plane crashed shortly before 4:00 p.m., in a gully behind the Petraitis residence at 161 South Main Street. There was no explosion or fire. State police and officials from Bradley Field in Windsor Locks responded. Hundreds of curious spectators descended on the scene and police were busy keeping crowds at bay.

The dead were identified as:

1st Lt. Melvin W. Schoephoester, of Baraboo, Wisconsin. (Pilot)

2nd Lt. Walter C. Boyle of LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

S/Sgt. Michael M. Kaufman of Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

Sergeant Gordon Johnson of Renov, Pennsylvania.

Sergeant Thomas F. Quinn of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

Sergeant John T. Howey, Jr. of New York City.

Missing at the wreck site was the body of the pilot, and it was presumed he’d bailed out prior to the crash. An open parachute was later found a few miles away in East Willington, and a search was conducted there without results. Schoephoester’s body was later recovered less than two miles form the crash without his parachute. An official from Bradley offered his opinion that Schoephoester had slipped from his chute after jumping, and that the weight of the harness was enough to keep it open while prevailing winds carried it a considerable distance.

Other parachutes were found in the wreckage, but not on the men. While army regulations required that parachutes be worn, it was speculated that the crew of the A-29 wasn’t wearing theirs when the accident occurred.

Updated March 7, 2016

The following information comes from the U.S. Army Air Corps accident investigation report of the incident. (#42-2-11-4)

The aircraft was assigned to the 1st Mapping Squadron, 1st Mapping Group, based at Bradley Field in Windsor Locks, Ct. At the time of the accident it was conducting a high altitude photographic mission.

As part of its investigation into this accident, the army interviewed 35 witnesses. A statement issued by the accident investigation committee it said in part:

“One fact of interest is the large number of witnesses who testified that they saw the right wing leave the airplane. As can be seen from the photographs, both wings were in the wreckage, the right wing being badly crumpled and apportion of it under the remains of the fuselage. The committee has found no evidence to indicate failure of the wings.

It was later determined that what witnesses likely saw was the tail section, not a wing, break away from the aircraft.

Numerous witnesses have testified that they could see the ship trailing smoke at high altitudes. The committee believes that this so-called smoke was in reality a condensation trail left by the airplane in-so-far as no traces of fire could be found in the wreckage.”

While examining the wreckage, investigators noted that both engine switches were cut, the throttles to the right engine were completely closed, while the throttles to the left engine were completely open, and the fuel selector valve for the right engine was turned off.

The right propeller appeared to have been feathered, and experts concluded that it was feathered at the time of impact.

Investigators considered the possibility that the accident was caused by a failure of the automatic pilot, however the auto-pilot was so badly damaged that no conclusions could be drawn, only that the auto-pilot was in the “off” position after the accident.

On November 8, 1944, a B-24J, (Ser. No. 42-51001), with twelve men aboard, left Westover Field in Chicopee, Massachusetts, for a scheduled combat crew training mission. Once airborne, the plane headed south over Connecticut. While over Connecticut, one of the engines began trailing smoke and before long flames became visible. Despite efforts by the pilot, the aircraft continued to loose altitude, and it became apparent that an emergency landing was the only option. The pilot aimed for an open area of pastureland located off Route 9 in East Granby, on what was then known as the Seymour Farm. As the plane passed over the highway it clipped a telephone pole sending it out of control into a marshy section of the pasture where the wings and fuselage broke apart before coming to rest. There was no fire, but one injured crewman was trapped in the crumpled wreckage and it was several hours before he could be extricated.

Of the twelve crewmen aboard, five were killed.

The dead were identified as:

Cpl. Gaetano L. Fastiggi, a top-turret-gunner from New Rochelle, N.Y., born September 23, 1925. He enlisted in the army on April 5, 1944. He’s buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in New Rochelle.

Cpl. Henry Colt Fay Jr., a gunner from Milburn, N.J., born September 12, 1923. He’s buried in the Winsted Old Burying Ground, in Winsted, Connecticut.

On May 7, 1954, Major Robert Anderstrom, 33, was piloting an F-51 Mustang from Mitchell Field on Long island, N.Y. to Westover Field in Chicopee, Massachusetts, when he crashed into a wooded hillside on the west side of historic Old Newgate Prison in East Granby. The subsequent explosion blasted the plane to pieces, and left a crater 12 feet deep, 20 feet wide, and 30 feet long.

One witness, Mrs. Frances B. Allen, recalled to reporters, “I thought it was a bomb it went up so fast.”

Major Anderstrom was an experienced pilot having served in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. He was recalled to active duty in 1952 and assigned to the 131st Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Massachusetts Air National Guard based at Barnes Airport in Westfield, Mass. At the time of his accident he was the Commanding Officer of the 831st Replacement Training Squadron, and training officer for the 131st FIS. During his career he earned three air medals.

Anderstrom was survived by his wife Theresa and three young daughters. He’s buried at St. Thomas cemetery in West Springfield, Mass. To see a photo of Major Anderstrom, go to findagrave.com and see memorial #6722890

Sources:

Hartford Courant, “Air Guard Major Loses Life In East Granby Plane Crash” May 8, 1954.

On January 15, 2017, a Connecticut resident contacted New England Aviation History to inquire about the red and white fuselage of a civilian aircraft that they’d found while hiking in the woods of East Granby. (Name withheld to protect their privacy. )

Photos of the aircraft showed the registration number to be N8019Z. Additionally, there is a bird logo with the name “Utililine” underneath it on the side of the fuselage.

According to the National Transportation & Safety Board (NTSB) website, the aircraft is a Cessna U206 that went down in the woods on March 20, 1969. The lone pilot aboard survived, but the plane was determined to be “damaged beyond repair”, and was evidently left where it fell. Over the years scavengers have removed the interior and pieces of the exterior of the aircraft.

The registration number of this aircraft has since been re-issued to another plane.

This information is provided here to assist others who may happen upon the fuselage and wonder about the story behind it.

On the night of November 11, 1995, American Airlines Flight 1572 departed Chicago bound for Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. (Bradley Airport is located on the Windsor Locks/East Granby town line.)

The aircraft was a McDonnell Douglas MD-83, (N566AA) with 73 passengers and a crew of 5 aboard.

At 1:55 a.m. on November 12, Flight 1572 was making its final approach to Runway 15 at Bradley in scattered clouds when it struck a tree and instrument landing system antenna short of the runway. The plane came down in a grassy area short of the runway on the East Granby side of the town line.

Damage to the aircraft was substantial. One passenger received minor injuries – there were no fatalities.

On July 9, 1982, 1st Lieutenant Daniel Peabody, 27, of the Connecticut Air National Guard, took off from Bradley Field in Windsor Locks in an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft, (Ser. No. 78-0585), for a routine training flight. His was one of three A-10s taking part in the training exercise. All of the aircraft were assigned to the 103rd Tactical Fighter Group based at Windsor Locks.

At 3:35 p.m. as he was returning to Bradley Filed and approaching Runway 6, the aircraft lost all power. and Lt. Peabody was forced to eject at an altitude of only 1,000 feet. While he landed safely, the A-10 crashed in a field in East Granby, tumbled across a roadway, and through a boundary fence at the edge of Bradley Field, leaving a debris field that stretched more than 100 yards.

On July 25, 1964, a Connecticut Air National Guard F-100F Super Sabre fighter jet assigned to the 118th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron took off at 12:43 p.m. from Bradley Field in Windsor Locks for what was to be an Air Defense Command training mission. At 1:44 p.m., as the jet was approaching Bradley Field, it crashed about a half-mile short of the main runway just after the pilot reported a flame-out. Both crewmen aboard were killed.

The dead were identified as:

(Pilot) Captain Thomas G. Jurgelas, 31, of South Windsor, Conn. He was survived by his wife and two children.

Captain Wesley A. Lanz, 29, of Rockville, Conn.

Both men were former classmates, graduating in 1957 from the University of Connecticut.

Source:

New York Times, “2 Connecticut Men Killed In Jet Crash”, July 26, 1964